Complete mirror-based global-positioning system (GPS) navigation solution

ABSTRACT

A vehicular rearview mirror-based navigation system includes a rearview mirror system, including an interior rearview mirror assembly, having an interior reflective element and interior mirror housing for the interior reflective element. The interior rearview mirror assembly further includes a scrolling display. The scrolling display displays scrolling driver informational messages on the scrolling display. The interior rearview mirror assembly may include a global-positioning system display receiving an output from a global-positioning system receiving system and displaying turn-by-turn information to a vehicle driver.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from U.S. provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 60/187,960, filed on Mar. 9, 2000, the disclosureof which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Vehicle-based global-positioning systems (GPS) are capable of providingcomplete mapping information, including street layout, street names,directions, landmarks, addresses, and the like. However, consumers oftenhave difficulty reading maps, especially when presented on a videoscreen, and the study of complex information, such as a map whiledriving, may dangerously distract from the driving task. Vehicle mirrorassemblies are desirable locations for an GPS antenna, such as disclosedin commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,552, the entire disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention fulfills a need to intelligently filter mappinginformation in a manner that provides useful and usable data to thedriver. The present invention also provides an economical driver-usableglobal-positioning system (GPS) display. A vehicular rearviewmirror-based navigation system, according to an aspect of the invention,includes a rearview mirror system, including an interior rearview mirrorassembly. The interior rearview mirror assembly includes an interiorreflective element and an interior mirror housing for the interiorreflective element. The interior rearview mirror assembly furtherincludes a scrolling display. The scrolling display displays scrollingdriver informational messages on the scrolling display.

A vehicular review mirror-based navigation system, according to anotheraspect of the invention, includes a rearview mirror system having aninterior rearview mirror assembly. The interior rearview mirror assemblyincludes an interior reflective element and an interior mirror housingfor the interior reflective element. The interior rearview mirrorassembly further includes a GPS display. The GPS display receives anoutput from a GPS receiving system and displays turn-by-turn informationto a vehicle driver.

One aspect of the present invention offers a complete GPS system,including antenna, receiver and a GPS information display into avehicular mirror assembly, and particularly an interior rearview mirrorassembly. Provision of such a mirror-mounted GPS system as a unitary,complete assembly has several advantages, including obviating anautomaker from having to specifically design a dashboard or otherinterior cabin spaces and would decrease the time to market associatedwith such level of feature integration. Also, provision of amirror-mounted GPS system as a unitary, complete assembly facilitatessupply of such assemblies as retrofits and as aftermarket installations,and generally increases an automaker's ability to offer a GPS feature asan option on selected vehicles.

A particular advantage from locating the information display of a GPSsystem at the interior rearview mirror assembly in the interiorvehicular cabin is that such a mirror-mounted GPS display can facilitatemulti-tasking by the driver. Thus, there is a need to intelligentlyfilter mapping information to provide useful, but usable, data to thedriver. A further object of this present invention is to economicallyprovide a driver-usable GPS display. Map displays are currently one ofthe largest cost factors in vehicle navigational systems. Thus, it wouldbe desirable to avoid or reduce this cost by providing a simpler meansof display to the driver.

Another aspect of this invention is the location of the GPS antenna andthe receiver in the exterior side view assembly. A further aspect is theprocessing by that exterior side view mirror receiver of GPS locationdata received by the antenna and fed from there to the receiver,providing an output from that location, that is external to the vehiclecabin, into the vehicle cabin. This has the advantage of the optimalfield of view for the antenna for communication to GPS satellites. Theplacement of the receiver in an exterior side view mirror assembly inclose proximity to the antenna also is preferred to avoid RFI and EMCissues associated with low level RF signals. Locating the GPS antenna ata distance from the GPS receiver may render the GPS system subject tostray RF noise from cellular phones and high power portabletransmitters, such as CB's and handheld radios.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a vehicular rearview mirror assembly,according to the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a vehicular rearview mirror-basednavigation system, according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings and the illustrated embodiments depictedtherein, a vehicular rearview mirror-based navigation system 10, in apreferred embodiment of the present invention, includes one or more GPSreceiving systems 11 exterior mirror-mounted antennas 12 that receivelocation information form GPS satellites. A GPS receiver 14, to which isconnected the GPS antenna 12, may also be mounted within an exteriorside view mirror assembly 15. The geographic data output from the GPSreceiver 14 is then transferred to an interior rearview mirror assembly17 for display with the driver via a communication channel 16 such as bya wire connection, a vehicle data bus connection such as a LIN or a CANbus, as known in the art, or wirelessly such as via short-range RF datatransmission using a protocol such as the BLUETOOTH protocol such as isavailable from Motorola of Schaumberg, Ill. Alternatively, a GPSreceiving system 11 including an interior-mounted GPS antenna 12′ andGPS receiver 14′ may be mounted at interior rearview mirror assembly 17.More particularly, the interior-mounted GPS antenna 12′ and/or the GPSreceiver 14′ may be positioned at either the movable portion of theinterior rearview mirror assembly or the fixed portion of the interiorrearview mirror assembly. Preferably, the display of the GPS informationat interior rearview mirror assembly 17 provides driver informationalmessages such as turn-by-turn instructions, such as shown in FIG. 1.This can be displayed using a dot-matrix, pixelated display 18 such asvacuum fluorescent display or an organic electro-luminescent display ora field-emission display or a plasma display or a similar light-emittingdisplay, or by a non-emitting display such as a liquid crystal displayin the chin of the interior mirror assembly mirror, in an eyebrow overthe mirror and/or in a display visible within the mirror reflector 19which would update the driver by line-by-line or by scrolling messageswhich keep the driver updated using GPS positioning techniques such asdifferential location discrimination which has preferred accuracy ofless than 5 m.

Another aspect of the present invention to the simplification of driverinstructions is the use of a simple compass/directional heading display20 at the interior mirror assembly. For example, if the system needed tocommunicate that the driver needed to turn right when heading north,heading display 18 may flash the “East” compass heading. Audible alertsor other noises could alert the driver that a directional change wasneeded. Another means of display could be arrows and the like.

A further aspect of the present invention is the data input generallyshown at 22. The driver will typically desire to input the destinationto the GPS system. This can be done several ways. A preferred methodwould be to take advantage of an existing vehicular wirelesstelecommunication system 24. Many existing mirror products are alreadythe location for these systems. For example, the driver would activate avehicular wireless communication system such as the OnStar™ system atGeneral Motors which would contact a remote operator or remote voiceinput system. This may be accomplished utilizing principles disclosed incommonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/466,010 filed Dec.17, 1999; Ser. No. 09/396,179 filed Sep. 14, 1999; Ser. No. 09/382,720filed Aug. 25, 1999; Ser. No. 09/449,121 filed Nov. 24, 1999; Ser. No.09/433,467 filed Nov. 4, 1999; and 09/448,700 filed Nov. 24, 1999, thedisclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. Thedriver would then tell the operator, such as via a voice input 26, thedesired final destination; this takes advantage of the operators' vastdata banks for locations and human interaction to help find thedestination of choice if you do not know the exact address. The operatorwould then download the turn-by-turn directions to your mirror. Thedriver will then be notified by the scrolling messages on the display inthe mirror when to turn, how far until the turn, and the direction. TheGPS system could update the display in real time as you travel. Audiblechirps delivered by a speaker 28 could alert the driver when approachinga turn or if the driver has missed a turn. Thus, the remote OnstarTm orequivalent system maintains the detailed maps and directories, and thisis fed back wirelessly to the vehicle for display at the interiorrearview mirror of directional guidance information.

In addition to this, the driver may simply have a keypad 30 to enter thedestination by spelling the address. Keypad 30 could behardwire-connected to internal rearview mirror 17 or be connected via awireless link.

BLUETOOTH technology form Motorola, or a similar short-range RFtransmission system, could be incorporated for wireless interface withthe GPS receiver. This allows for better performance in urban canyonsand locations with extreme foliage. The exterior mirror-mounted GPSsystem 11 could improve handheld GPS devices due to a more powerfulantenna 12, which does not operate from a small handheld battery orsuffer from the limited size and weight constraints. In addition, thevehicular GPS system could have more data storage, faster processingspeeds, increased bandwidth for full internet access, increased softwareand potential to transfer data via 2-way paging such Creatalink 2 byMotorola thereby lowering operating costs to the user. The data couldthen be transferred back to the mobile unit for display or storage orthe handheld features could then be transferred to the vehicle for handsfree operation through voice recognition. This could also include smartphones with an IP address and personal digital assistants (PDA). Inaddition, smart cards might be inserted into the mirror and informationexchanged in this manner.

The driver could also simply have the instructions downloaded to mirror17 without GPS system 11. This would involve the operator using theircellular service to triangulate your position then download theturn-by-turn directions to your mirror based on your current positionand your destination. Then, as you complete each step of the direction,you can scroll to the next direction. This eliminates the cost of theGPS solution, but may not allow for real time positioning. It does offera simple and effective way to display the information to the driver in alocation where the driver is not forced to take their eyes off the road.

It is preferred that the display of GPS-derived driving directionalinstructions and allied information be displayed at interior mirrorassembly 17 as a reconfigurable display such as a multi-pixel displaywith individually addressable display pixel elements, such as is knownin the display arts. Also, it is preferable that the display have anaspect ratio (defined as ratio of the width dimension of the display toits height dimension) of at least about 3, more preferably at leastabout 5, and most preferably at least about 10 in order to presentdriving instructions to the driver in a readily readable form. Forexample, the “Turn right on Swan, etc.” driver instruction shown at theinterior mirror assembly in FIG. 1 has a desirably large aspect ratio.Also, preferably, the width dimension W of the display is at least about4 cm, more preferably at least about 6 cm and most preferably at leastabout 10 cm in width dimension. Also, preferably, the height dimension His at least about 0.5 cm, more preferably at least about 0.6 cm and mostpreferably at least about 1 cm in height dimension. Use of the preferredaspect ratios and dimensions ensures that the driver can readily readand interpret the mirror-displayed driving instructions.

Also, where display 18 is disposed behind reflective element 19 ofinterior mirror assembly 17, and when the reflective element is anelectrically variable reflectance element such as an electro-opticmirror such as an electrochromic mirror, it is preferred that theintensity of the scrolling GPS-derived directional information displaybe increased whenever any overlaying variable opacity element, such asan electrochromic medium, decreases in transmission. Thus, when anelectrochromic mirror element that the display is viewed through dims,the intensity of the display increases to compensate for the mirrordimming, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,285,060 and 5,416,313,the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein.

Further, scrolling GPS-derived driving instruction information can bedisplayed at an interior mirror-mounted video screen, such as isdisclosed in provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/186,520 filedMar. 2, 2000, entitled INTERIOR REARVIEW MIRROR ASSEMBLY INCORPORATING AVIDEO SCREEN and in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/449,121 filed Nov. 24, 1999, by Hutzel et al., the entire disclosuresof which are hereby incorporated herein.

Also, optionally, a forward-facing video camera, such as a CMOS or CCDcamera, can be mounted to the vehicle, such as disclosed in commonlyassigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,796,094 and published International ApplicationNo. WO 99/23828, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated hereinby reference, that views the forward scene ahead of the vehicle as ittravels on a road. Optionally, the video image of the forward scene canbe displayed at a mirror-mounted video screen, or at a video screenmounted elsewhere in the vehicle cabin such as in or at the dashboard.Preferably, a computer-produced graphic overlayer/imagehighlight/picture-in-a-picture for this forward-viewing video image isgenerated that is derived from geographic information received from thein-vehicle GPS system. Thus, the driver can view a video screen, whichpreferably is located at the interior rearview mirror assembly, and cansee a graphic overlay on the captured forward video image that guidesthe driver to turn left or right at an upcoming intersection whose imageis displayed on the video screen, a highway on/off ramp the driver is totake can be highlighted on the video screen, a destination building canbe highlighted (such as by flashing the part of the video screen wherethe building is being displayed), etc.

Also, where a video-based rear vision display is included in thevehicle, such as disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,670,935and published International Application No. WO 96/38319, the disclosuresof which are hereby incorporated herein by reference, driverinstructional data, maps, and the like, can, optionally, be co-displayedwith the video image of the rearward scene. The driver instructionaldata, maps, and the like, can be derived from the GPS data received bythe in-vehicle GPS system, and may be co-displayed via a graphicoverlayer or a picture-in-a-picture, or the like.

The global-positioning system display of the present invention may beincorporated into video screens or video display assemblies, which maybe displayed at or adjacent to the interior rearview mirror assembly,such as in a module or a pod or the like, such as described in U.S.utility application Ser. No. 09/793,002 entitled VIDEO MIRROR SYSTEMSINCORPORATING AN ACCESSORY MODULE, filed by Kenneth Schofield, FrankO'Brien, Robert L. Bingle, and Niall R. Lynam on Feb. 26, 2001 and U.S.provisional applications entitled VIDEO MIRROR SYSTEMS INCORPORATING ANACCESSORY MODULE, Ser. No. 60/263,680, filed Jan. 23, 2001; VIDEO MIRRORSYSTEMS INCORPORATING AN ACCESSORY MODULE, Ser. No. 60/243,986, filedOct. 27, 2000; VIDEO MIRROR SYSTEMS, Ser. No. 60/238,483, filed Oct. 6,2000; VIDEO MIRROR SYSTEMS, Ser. No. 60/237,077, filed Sep. 30, 2000;VIDEO MIRROR SYSTEMS, Ser. No. 60/234,412, filed Jul. 21, 2000; INTERIORREARVIEW MIRROR ASSEMBLY INCORPORATING A VIDEO SCREEN, Ser. No.60/218,336, filed Jul. 14, 2000; and INTERIOR REARVIEW MIRROR ASSEMBLYINCORPORATING A VIDEO SCREEN, Ser. No. 60/186,520, filed Mar. 2, 2000,the entire disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference. Asdescribed in the above-referenced applications, such video screens maybe incorporated into the interior rearview mirror assembly or providedat locations within the vehicle separate from the interior rearviewmirror assembly. The video display assemblies similarly may beincorporated into the interior rearview mirror assembly, such as bymounting the video display assembly to the interior mirror support ormirror mount or to a pod, or may be separately mounted, such as eitherabove the interior rearview mirror assembly or below the interiorrearview mirror assembly. For further variations and details of themounting of the video screen(s) or the video display assembly, referenceis made to the above-referenced applications.

Such video screens or video display assemblies may be used to displaythe output from a rear vision back-up camera, such as disclosed inco-pending applications Ser. No. 09/199,907, filed Nov. 25, 1998, and09/361,814, filed Jul. 27, 1999, commonly assigned to DonnellyCorporation, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated byreference in their entireties, along with vehicle instrument status,such as a vehicle information display, such as information relating tofuel gauge levels, speed, climate control setting, GPS directionalinstructions, tire pressure status, instrument and vehicle functionstatus, and the like. In addition, such video screens may display apanoramic image, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,670,935 and5,550,677 and U.S. patent applications entitled WIDE ANGLE IMAGE CAPTURESYSTEM FOR VEHICLES, Ser. No. 09/199,907, filed Nov. 25, 1998, and WIDEANGLE IMAGING SYSTEM, Ser. No. 09/361,814, filed Jul. 27, 1999, thedisclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference in theirentireties, and can be used instead of a conventional mirror reflector.Other displays or images that may be displayed on the video screeninclude: a rain sensor operation display, a telephone informationdisplay, a highway status information display, a blind spot indicatordisplay, a hazard warning display, a vehicle status display, a pagemessage display, a speedometer display, a tachometer display, an audiosystem display, a fuel gage display, a heater control display, anair-conditioning system display, a status of inflation of tires display,an E-mail message display, a compass display, an engine coolanttemperature display, an oil pressure display, a cellular phone operationdisplay, a global-positioning display, a weather information display, atemperature display, a traffic information display, a telephone numberdisplay, a fuel status display, a battery condition display, a timedisplay, a train approach warning display, and a tollbooth transactiondisplay. Furthermore, information displays may be incorporated whichprovide information to the driver or occupants of the vehicle, such aswarnings relating to the status of the passenger airbag. In commonlyassigned co-pending application Ser. No. 09/244,726, filed by JonathanE. DeLine and Niall R. Lynam, on Feb. 5, 1999, information displays areprovided which include information relating to vehicle or engine status,warning information, and the like, such as information relating to oilpressure, fuel remaining, time, temperature, compass headings forvehicle direction, and the like, the disclosure of which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety. The passenger side air bag on/offsignal may be derived from various types of seat occupancy detectorssuch as by video surveillance of the passenger seat as disclosed inco-pending, commonly assigned international application Ser. No.PCT/US94/01954, filed Feb. 25, 1994, the disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference, or by ultrasonic or sonar detection, infraredsensing, pyrodetection, weight detection, or the like. Alternately,enablement/displayment of the passenger side air bag operation can becontrolled manually such as through a user-operated switch operated withthe ignition key of the vehicle in which the mirror assembly is mountedas described in co-pending, commonly assigned U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 08/799,734, filed Feb. 12, 1997, the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments canbe carried out without departing from the principles of the inventionwhich is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appendedclaims, as interpreted according to the principles of patent lawincluding the doctrine of equivalents.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:
 1. A vehicular rearviewmirror-based navigation system, comprising: a rearview mirror systemincluding an interior rearview mirror assembly, said interior rearviewmirror assembly comprising an interior reflective element and aninterior mirror housing for said interior reflective element; aglobal-positioning system comprising a receiving system; said interiorrearview mirror assembly further comprising a global-positioning systemdisplay displaying information derived from an output of saidglobal-positioning system receiving system, said global-positioningsystem display comprising a scrolling display, said scrolling displayoperable for displaying scrolling information.
 2. The system in claim 1wherein said global-positioning system display provides turn-by-turninstructions.
 3. The system in claim 2 wherein said turn-by-turninstructions comprise at least one of (i) direction, (ii) when to turnand (iii) how far until the turn.
 4. The system in claim 1 wherein saidglobal-positioning system display comprises a dot-matrix pixelateddisplay, said dot-matrix pixelated display operable to display atextural driver instruction.
 5. The system in claim 4 wherein saidglobal-positioning system display is selected from the group consistingof a vacuum fluorescent display, an organic electro-luminescent display,a field-emission display, a plasma display, a light-emitting diodedisplay, and a liquid crystal display.
 6. The system in claim 1 whereinsaid global-positioning system display is positioned at said interiorreflective element.
 7. The system in claim 1 wherein saidglobal-positioning system display is positioned at said housing.
 8. Thesystem in claim 1 wherein said rearview mirror system further includesat least one exterior rearview mirror assembly including an exteriorreflective element and an exterior mirror housing for said exteriorreflective element.
 9. The system in claim 8 wherein saidglobal-positioning system receiving system comprising aglobal-positioning system antenna and a global-positioning receiver. 10.The system in claim 9 wherein at least one of said system antenna andsaid receiving system is positioned at one of said interior mirrorassembly and said exterior mirror assembly.
 11. The system in claim 10wherein said at least one of said system antenna and said systemreceiver are positioned at said interior mirror assembly.
 12. The systemin claim 10 wherein said at least one of said system antenna and saidsystem receiver are positioned at said exterior rearview mirror assemblyand wherein said output is supplied to said display via one of a wireconnection, a vehicle data bus connection, and a short-range wirelesscommunication channel.
 13. The system in claim 12 wherein said output issupplied via a vehicle data bus connection that comprises one of a LINand a CAN bus.
 14. The system in claim 12 wherein said output issupplied via a wireless communication channel that comprises a BLUETOOTHprotocol.
 15. The system in claim 1 wherein said receiving system ispositioned at said interior mirror assembly.
 16. The system in claim 1wherein said global-positioning system display has an aspect ratio ofwidth-to-height that is greater than or equal to
 3. 17. The system inclaim 16 wherein said global-positioning system display has an aspectratio of width-to-height that is greater than or equal to
 5. 18. Thesystem in claim 17 wherein said global-positioning system display has anaspect ratio of width-to-height that is greater than or equal to
 10. 19.The system in claim 1 wherein said global-positioning system display hasa height that is greater than or equal to 4 millimeters.
 20. The systemin claim 19 wherein said global-positioning system display has a heightthat is greater than or equal to 5 millimeters.
 21. The system in claim20 wherein said global-positioning system display has a height that isgreater than or equal to 6 millimeters.
 22. The system in claim 1wherein said global-positioning system display has a width that isgreater than or equal to 5 millimeters.
 23. The system in claim 22wherein said global-positioning system display has a width that isgreater than or equal to 7 millimeters.
 24. The system in claim 23wherein said global-positioning system display has a width that isgreater than or equal to 10 millimeters.
 25. The system in claim 1wherein said global-positioning system display displays simplecompass/directional heading information.
 26. The system in claim 25further including an audio output generator indicating a need to changedirection.
 27. The system in claim 1 wherein said global-positioningsystem display is a multiplexing display.
 28. The system in claim 27wherein said global-positioning system display also displays othervehicle functions.
 29. The system in claim 1 wherein said rearviewmirror system receives a remote input from a remote attendant providingdestination information.
 30. The system in claim 29 wherein saidrearview mirror system includes a sound system for receiving voicecommands from the driver.
 31. The system in claim 30 wherein said soundsystem activates a vehicular wireless communication system communicatingdriver voice commands to the remote attendant.
 32. A vehicular rearviewmirror-based navigation system, comprising: a rearview mirror systemincluding an interior rearview mirror assembly, said interior rearviewmirror assembly comprising an interior reflective element and aninterior mirror housing for said interior reflective element; aglobal-positioning system comprising a receiving system; said interiorrearview mirror assembly further comprising a global-positioning systemdisplay displaying information derived from an output from saidglobal-positioning system receiving system, said global-positioningsystem display comprising an elongated narrow display having an aspectratio of width-to-height that is greater than or equal to 3, saidelongated display displaying textural driver instruction.
 33. The systemin claim 32 wherein said global-positioning system display comprises ascrolling display.
 34. The system in claim 32 wherein said turn-by-turninformation comprise at least one of (i) direction, (ii) when to turnand (iii) how far until the turn.
 35. The system in claim 32 whereinsaid global-positioning system display comprises a dot-matrix pixelateddisplay, said dot-matrix pixelated display operable to display atextural driver instruction.
 36. The system in claim 35 wherein saidglobal-positioning system display is selected from the group consistingof a vacuum fluorescent display, an organic electro-luminescent display,a field-emission display, a plasma display, a light-emitting diodedisplay, and a liquid crystal display.
 37. The system in claim 35wherein said global-positioning system display is positioned at saidinterior reflective element.
 38. The system in claim 37 wherein saidglobal-positioning system display is positioned at said housing.
 39. Thesystem in claim 32 wherein said rearview mirror system further includesat least one exterior rearview mirror assembly including an exteriorreflective element and an exterior mirror housing for said exteriorreflective element.
 40. The system in claim 39 wherein saidglobal-positioning system receiving system comprises aglobal-positioning system antenna and a global-positioning receiver. 41.The system in claim 40 wherein at least one of said system antenna andsaid receiving system is positioned at one of said interior mirrorassembly and said exterior mirror assembly.
 42. The system in claim 41wherein said at least one of said system antenna and said systemreceiver are positioned at said interior mirror assembly.
 43. The systemin claim 41 wherein said at least one of said system antenna and saidsystem receiver are positioned at said exterior mirror assembly andwherein said output is supplied to said display via one of a wireconnection, a vehicle data bus connection, and a short-range wirelesscommunication channel.
 44. The system in claim 43 wherein said output issupplied via a vehicle data bus connection that comprises one of a LINand a CAN bus.
 45. The system in claim 43 wherein said output issupplied via a wireless communication channel that comprises a BLUETOOTHprotocol.
 46. The system in claim 32 wherein said global-positioningsystem display has an aspect ratio of width-to-height that is greaterthan or equal to
 3. 47. The system in claim 46 wherein saidglobal-positioning system display has an aspect ratio of width-to-heightthat is greater than or equal to
 5. 48. The system in claim 47 whereinsaid global-positioning system display has an aspect ratio ofwidth-to-height that is greater than or equal to
 10. 49. The system inclaim 32 wherein said global-positioning system display has a heightthat is greater than or equal to 4 millimeters.
 50. The system in claim49 wherein said global-positioning system display has a height that isgreater than or equal to 5 millimeters.
 51. The system in claim 50wherein said global-positioning system display has a height that isgreater than or equal to 6 millimeters.
 52. The system in claim 32wherein said global-positioning system display has a width that isgreater than or equal to 5 millimeters.
 53. The system in claim 52wherein said global-positioning system display has a width that isgreater than or equal to 7 millimeters.
 54. The system in claim 53wherein said global-positioning system display has a width that isgreater than or equal to 10 millimeters.
 55. The system in claim 32wherein said global-positioning system display displays simplecompass/directional heading information.
 56. The system in claim 55further including an audio output generator indicating a need to changedirection.
 57. The system in claim 32 wherein said global-positioningsystem display comprises a multiplexing display.
 58. The system in claim57 wherein said global-positioning system display also displays othervehicle functions.
 59. The system in claim 32 wherein said rearviewmirror system receives a remote input from a remote attendant providingdestination information.
 60. The system in claim 59 wherein saidrearview mirror system includes a sound system for receiving voicecommands from the driver.
 61. The system in claim 60 wherein said soundsystem activates a vehicular wireless communication system communicatingdriver voice commands to the remote attendant.